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This post should be titled ‘training racing’ or ‘stupid racing’ depending on how you look at it.
It was the first round of the Irish women’s national league, so a separate race for the girls with a smaller bunch, making things totally different to the last couple of weeks (very lucky since there was carnage in the men’s, loads of crashes, ambulances, broken bones etc – nasty)

The starting pace seemed fairly slow and I found myself leading out the front in no time. Every so often people came by and I tuck back in, but I couldn’t help myself but get up there again – seems wrong not going really hard in a race!

Every time someone attacked I was straight onto their wheel, not wanting to miss the action. Not the best tactic for energy conservation, a lot of the time it was clear they were going nowhere so I was just doing little intervals for the sake of it (but it makes for a good workout which is why I was there!). Fortunately my legs were feeling ok and I could feel the benefit of the last couple of weeks racing with pedalling on the flat seeming much easier. I joined a couple of breakaway attempts, but they never lasted long and ended up being more wasted energy -the course was really flat and short and each time the group caught back on. I didn’t have the confidence to lead one myself since I’m still pretty clueless when it comes to tactics for these road things.

Into the third and fourth lap I began to realise who the stronger girls were and who to watch out for, so on the last lap I stepped off a bit and let other people work at the front. Then coming towards the end I tried to move up ready for the finish, but again enthusiasm got the better of me and I ended up at pushing along at the front. There was a tiny hill just before the finish and I was very tempted to attack, but didn’t think I could keep up a sprint for another flat kilometre after it, so I held off and waited for someone else to go. Then finish in sight someone sprinted from behind and all of a sudden a whole load of people poured past, I got boxed in and ended up down the bunch just outside of the prizes. Doh!

So definitely more tactics to learn, but I was doing it as training for ‘proper’ racing next weekend and in that sense it was good. Report and pictures on Irish Cycling here. I have to say I was almost won over by road racing, a separate women’s race was much more eventful, almost exciting even. Quick get me to a mountain bike race….!

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As part of my training building up to the start of the mountain bike season in a few weeks time I’m scheduled to do a few road races. So rather than make the most of dry trails, amazing blue sky and sunshine on the mtb, I headed to the Cycleways Cup in Navan with Richie to find out what all the fuss is about. We couldn’t believe the number of people, the team cars, sponsors and pro bikes – you don’t get that at a mountain bike race here. I was in the A3 category, the second group off. I don’t know how many started exactly but I’d say well over 100.

The start is very different to mtb, the huge bunch just sets off and the pace doesn’t pick up for a few minutes. Unfortunately I started towards the back and the road was so jammed full of bikes it was impossible to move up, I had to concentrate hard as there are only millimetres between each wheel so you need your wits about you. The pace was fairly fast but nothing too crazy, a few little accelerations out of corners or up small hills where you have to work hard, but then it tails off and you can recover. We cruised along for a while and then all of a sudden the group was split and I found myself in the second pack having missed the break – how did that happen?! Lesson number one, get near to the front at the start or very soon afterwards.

I was riding along in a group of maybe 15 or 20 but every so often I’d look around and realise we’d lost a few, or else we’d pick up more people dropped from the front pack. After a while it settled down so we were a group of 8 or 9 working together. There were a couple of more experienced guys bossing people around, telling you off for going too fast at the front, not keeping the flow going and that sort of thing. I definitely felt like an inexperienced mountain biker at a road race and it took a while to learn how it all works (I wasn’t the only one, there were Worc and Rocky Mountain riders getting shouted at more than me!).

The group got smaller with a load of people dropping out at the end of the first lap, but then we were caught from behind by the A4 pack and it was like a new race. This time I had a bit more of an idea of the tactics and what was going on, and got in a position towards the front half of the bunch. The pace wasn’t too hard at all, slower than the beginning, so as we approached the last few km I was watching out for a break, determined to be part of it this time. A couple of people tried to make a dash but were quickly reeled in, so in the end we more or less cruised all the way in until the finish was in close sights, then there was a big mad sprint to get there first. That was actually the most enjoyable part of the whole thing, I made up a load of places and crossed the line about 6th in the group. Picture here.

So an experience of inexperience I think! I have to say I’d chose mountain biking first any day, the buzzing feeling after the race wasn’t there at all. It’s so much more about tactics and timing rather than pushing your own limits and technical skills. In fact I felt really fresh at the end, but maybe that would have been different if I stuck to the A3 group. I probably will do more for the training and to prove to myself that I can make the break, but I really, really can’t wait for the mountain bike season to start! 3 weeks to go…

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After managing to avoid it all year I finally gave in to cyclocross on Sunday and took part in the Irish national championship race in St Annes park. I raced there last year and really enjoyed the course, and after months away from the race scene I was beginning to miss it so thought it would be good to give it a go. You have to have a special bike for these things and Darragh Maloney was kind enough to lend me his brand new crossbike for the day.

I rode a couple of laps to get used to the bike before joining a chaotic bunch of 50 or so riders all trying to get into a good start position. Unfortunately there was only myself and Fran Mehan in the female race so it didn’t count as a national championships and we had to start at the back of the men’s pack. The first few minutes were mental, some very dirty tactics going on as the big bunch tried to squeeze down a very narrow track. I got cut off by people cutting the first corner and saw someone literally push a guy off the course to get into a narrow tunnel first.

Somehow in all the chaos I managed to keep my eye on Fran who was just ahead of me. The course was brilliant, faster than last year with less bits to run (suits me, my run-bike transitions weren’t the slickest!). There was loads of singletrack that was slightly muddy making it more fun, drifting corners on skinny tyres and cantilever brakes really pushes the limits of control. As riders began to string out I got onto Fran’s wheel and managed to skip ahead at one point. It was hard, I’ve done no anaerobic training since September and you really have to push all the time to keep the pace going.
For the next few laps there was only seconds between us, Fran got ahead on the second lap so for me it was a case of trying to stick to her back wheel. My front brake was really really noisy so there was no chance of sneaking up behind her! By lap four she had pulled away a bit and though I still had her in my sights, I was struggling to keep the pace going and getting a bit sloppy with getting on and off the bike. Coming into the last lap Fran came off on a slippery corner and I thought I might still have chance to catch her. I put my head down and managed to close the gap a bit, but couldn’t quite do enough to fight back. It’s all about the split seconds and there was 30 seconds between us in the end. Full results and photos are here.

After years of slagging it I really enjoyed the race, I might have to try and get my own bike for next year so that I can do more! Apart from anything it’s a great training workout and it definitely showed me a few things I need to work on before the start of the mountain bike season. Thanks very much to Darragh for loan of the bike (especially for cleaning it after!!) and to Greg May/DCU for organising a great event.

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Had a couple of dodgy training spins recently starting with an incident with a car. Having survived 3 hours of ‘dangerous’ mountain biking I was coming home through Dundrum and a guy decided to turn left without looking sending me over the bars and almost onto the bonnet of another car! I was very lucky, managed to avoid full impact and somehow landed on my feet. Drivers on their way to go shopping seem to leave their brains at home.

Then last weekend I hit a patch of black ice on the road heading toward Glencree youth hostel. One second I was riding along happily, next thing, wham…slamming onto the ground and skidding along the road. I landed right on my coccyx which is a pretty painful place to hit. The next day i was walking round like a cripple so instead of my normal gym session I went into the sports centre in UCD for ice bath intervals. It was unbelievable, 30 seconds of hot shower followed by 30 seconds in a huge tub of cold water and ice cubes x3. Pretty nasty getting into the bath but afterwards you feel incredible and my back was considerably less stiff. I’ll be back for more, its great for easing tired legs and speeding up recovery too.

Now no more procrastinating, back to my dissertation…

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I’m just back from my annual international ‘training camp’ in Yorkshire (aka Christmas holidays!) – and since its home of the next race on the World Cup circuit it really is a pro training destination. Dalby Forest is the closest place to York to go biking and one of the places I started riding so to have the best riders in the world there is going to be very exciting. My intention was to get lots of practice on the course with the aim of competing in the race in April. Unfortunately snow messed things up and I only made it up there once – more of that later.

York is pretty low, something like sea level, so it doesn’t get much snow, but the place was white over the whole two weeks I was there. So between all the usual Christmas and New Year stuff I got in plenty of fun cold spins with Eoin. On reflection it turned out to be pretty eventful too, generally down to bad planning.

On Christmas Eve, mountain biking through 30cm of snow was cool, surprisingly ridable once you get some rhythm going, and it makes steep rocky descents great fun – sliding down, floating over rocks and soft landings when you fall. At one point we were in amazing blue sky and sunshine so views over the Moors were spectacular. There were even people ice climbing – almost alpine! Unfortunately snow also makes a spin take much longer than normal so it wasn’t fun running an hour over schedule, tired, out of food and water, pedalling across a moor in freezing fog with 50m visibility and no idea how close you were from the end! Glad to finish that one.

Christmas day we went sledging with my mum instead of biking for a change. More snow covered fun in the sun and homemade sloe gin after makes it even more worthwhile (Eoin spent his time posing for photos as you can see!).

Then we finally got to Dalby on a day with slightly less snow, but instead all the fireroads turned to huge sheets of ice. There was nothing for it but to pedal but we both managed to slap ourselves on the floor a couple of times! Luckily most of the singletrack was in better condition so we got in a lap of the world cup course. All I can say is I don’t need excuses to ride lots of technical mtb trails before April – most of the course isn’t that technical, normal trail centre stuff. But… they’ve built in some rather big drops and rocky bits which take a bit of getting your head around. I managed to cream myself on one, pulled the front break and went over the bars with my bike somersaulting 4 or 5 times down the hill!

Again the ride took longer than expected so not having brought lights we had to sprint 20km back to the nearest town to catch a train before it got dark. It was getting a bit dodgy (on a main road) when suddenly we got hailed over by an unmarked cop car on the side of the road and a big lecture about lights and preparation. He wasn’t wrong but with muddy bikes he wasn’t offering a lift either so it was more sprinting to make the train by the skin of our teeth.

Then I went out on the road and got stuck 30km from home with a puncture and extremely ineffective pump just as the weather changed and a big blizzard came making visibility terrible and the roads treacherous. Mum to the rescue!

So theres the lesson – prepare for everything!!

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The UCD roadies have been taking part in a race league with a few other clubs over the summer, and on Sunday it was the ‘Christmas hamper’ race. I’ve been threatening to give road racing a try for a while, and as something fairly short and not too serious it seemed like a good opportunity to find out what the fuss is about. John from Think Bike very kindly lent me a ‘real’ road bike since I don’t think mine would have made it round the course.

It was on somewhere out in Meath so riding out with Niall and Gavin was more than enough warm up, especially with slightly tired legs after doing a long timed hill climb the day before. There were loads of people, apparently some pretty good, but I don’t know much about these things! In fact I felt pretty clueless altogether, no idea about road racing or tactics. All I knew was don’t get stuck at the front doing all the work, and don’t get dropped!

We set off at a pretty cruisey pace, the occasionally burst of energy but nothing too hectic at all, and I almost thought it was all too easy. I was a bit concerned beforehand about riding in a bunch since I’ve never been out with more than four of five others, and never riding at speed. It wasn’t as scary as I expected at all – having a bike I could trust made a lot of difference too, made me realise how bad my road bike is! The route was nice, mostly flat with two 20km ish laps, and as smooth roads as you can hope for in Ireland.

Into the second lap the pack was a bit smaller, I’d managed to survive a few attacks and was keeping my eye on another couple of girls who were still up there. The pace was still ok but Gav warned me to watch out for a break coming up. A bit more cruising along with the pace gradually picking up a bit, then as a couple of the ‘A’ category riders came by from behind it suddenly all went a bit mental. Out of the saddle sprint and then head down, legs burning, heart rate racing, powering along to try and hold onto the pack. I was working hard but just sticking to them and hoping it might slow down again.

Unfortunately not! The main bunch of the ‘A’ pack came wizzing by, upping the pace in the process. At that stage I was struggling, hanging off the back – especially frustrating when you know the guy 15 metres ahead is working far less to go the same speed. It was like huge long nasty interval but I was getting know where and eventually had to step off a bit and let them go. In fact probably should have done so sooner since I just ended up wasting energy but I don’t like giving up! Annoying since there wasn’t too long left at all. The last few km was still hard going, I was at the front of group of 4 or 5 trying to keep the pace up till the end. Not sure where I finished but first or second female I reckon.

So a weird experience I have to say, totally and utterly different to a mountain bike race. I’d say about 90% is fairly easy (for a race!), 10% hard but the real key is the 5% that’s ridiculously hard! It wasn’t quite the same buzz as an mtb race, but I did really enjoy it, a nice reminder of the combination of pain and adrenaline that makes racing so great. Might have to do more of them next year, it would help improve my speed on the flat if nothing else.

Thanks very much to John from Think Bike for the loan of his bike, made an incredible difference.

The worst part of the day was a disaster with my garmin but I’m too traumatised to explain. I’ll just say that a big chunk of my fund for a new road bike will wasted on a new garmin. Not happy.

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My big change for this season is starting to do some weights and core strength work in the UCD High Performance gym. I had no idea if I was going to like this, I’ve always been fundamentally against the idea of being in the gym when you could be outside doing fun sports! I’m coming round to the idea though, its surprisingly enjoyable and a good challenge.

I do feel a bit silly struggling away with these little weights while some of the athletics guys are lifting huge things that weigh more than me, but I’m assured it’ll come with time. The guys coaching me are great too, watching every move and making sure I do it right. There are a lot of awkward positions and movements that take a bit of getting used to. It’s a bit dodgy going back to the studio afterwards and trying to draw by hand, or even worse make models – everything gets a bit shaky!

I’ve now one week more in college and then a month off for Christmas (and to write a dissertation but I’m trying to forget about that one!), time to catch up on normal life and up the training volume before starting my final thesis project in January.

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Well not exactly but it was rather nice for a rare afternoon off work. Ciarán started a Culinary Arts degree in DIT this year and part of the course is going to eat in nice restaurants. He managed to get some extra tickets for a 6 course lunch at L’Ecrivain, a Michelin starred restaurant in Dublin. A student rate with champagne reception and all the wine you wanted included. Nice, I could used to that kind of thing! …and will be expecting Ciarán to feed me like that on a regular basis

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In November I started back into training, building up endurance for next seasons racing which starts in March. Unfortunately this coincided with college work taking over my life and its been a real struggle to fit things in. Architecture and cycling are two of the most time consuming activities possible and a bad combination! For the last 6 weeks I’ve been doing about 60 hours a week in college and reckon I clocked up 80 last week coming up to my final project presentation for the semester! Not good, doesn’t leave many hours left in the day to get out on the bike and all forms of ‘normal’ life seem to have disappeared.

Still though, the less time I have the more determined I get to fit it in. I’ve managed to keep the long weekend spins up and during the week had to realise that 6am is a time that exists and is actually not that bad once you’re used to it. I can only see dark, cold, wet mornings as character building! The weather recently has been nuts, hurricane winds and lots of rain. I seem to frequently come home shaking with cold and soaked through no matter how many layers I put on! Somehow managed to avoid getting pneumonia but I don’t know how. My turbo trainer has still never made it out of its box but its beginning to look more and more appealing. Will put it off a bit longer though I think.

I started running a bit too since its much more time efficient than biking. It was pretty nasty at first but it no longer takes me three days to recover from a short run, and its nice to clear the head after a long day in studio.

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There’s been a lack of posts recently, I’ve generally disappeared off the radar, trapped in the architecture studio 12 hours a day, barely aware that the rest of the world exists. Its been sucking my soul away! Thankfully I’ve just finished this semesters project and writing blog posts seems a great way to procrastinate writing my dissertation.

It long time ago now, but after the last race of the year in October I took a few weeks break from proper training. Nice to catch up on all non-bike related stuff, back to college parties and that sort of thing. At that stage the weather was really good so I made the most of it for a few fun, sociable mtb spins . It was great on beginner spins with UCD and Think Bike to see people so enthusiastic and keen to try new things.

We had the UCD CC awards night and I was honoured to win the Brian Lennon Memorial Cyclist of the year award for the second time running. The roadies have had a very active club with some of them doing very well this season so I had some tough opposition. The perpetual shield is so big I couldn’t cycle home with it so its on display in the sports centre!

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